I certainly agree that experience, even volunteer or
     intern experience, is a key factor for new hires.  We
     do require graduate degrees for most of our museum
     positions, because it's obvious we can get folks with a
     graduate education for what we pay and we want to have
     the benefit of as much education as we can hire.  That
     said, a candidate who has obtained a 4yr and a graduate
     degree who has NO experience in a museum would get
     bumped immediately because we also require experience.
     We define experience pretty loosely, and accept
     non-consecutive work periods, volunteer work,
     internships, etc.  IMHO, any student who gets a degree
     and hasn't found some way to work in his/her chosen
     field doesn't have sufficient initiative to be
     attractive as a team member.

     Yah, I know some will say I'm missing some really great
     candidates, but I've found some really great folks too,
     and they all bring degrees and experience to the
     operation.  They showed the initiative and motivation
     to complete the degrees and get the experience, and
     they review better in grant applications than people
     who lack graduate degrees, too.

     Chris Dill

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C. L. Dill, Museum Director
State Historical Society of North Dakota
612 East Boulevard
Bismarck  ND  58505-0830    USA
P: (701)328-2666
F: (701)328-3710
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Visit our Web site at: http://www.state.nd.us/hist/
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